ALDI shopping and gluten free chicken nuggets report

I went to ALDI today to check out the new ALDI gluten free chicken nuggets — here’s what I bought, and what’s in the nuggets! Will report back again after we taste them.

Note that all the SimplyNature products I saw, as well as the gluten free nuggets, had Special Buy tags, which means they are not necessarily permanent additions. I am hoping that if they see a really good response to these, they will make it into the permanent rotation, though!

I wish Aldi didn’t use so much turmeric in its products. My husband is allergic and we are finding that products that used to be “safe” now have turmeric in them. It’s mainly used for coloring. However, It’s nice to see it specifically labeled on the GF nuggets. Many times we have found out the hard way that the product had turmeric, but our only hint was the term “spices”.

I got some nuggets Tuesday night. They were quite tasty! I enjoyed having chicken nuggets for the first time in years. One surprise was that they are a little smaller than regular nuggets, but that wasn’t really a bad thing.

I must say that labelling for the allergen information can be quite confusing. My son is on medication that could be fatal to him if he eats soy or aged cheeses. Since soy is one of the major allergens and is in almost everything, I thought that the packaging had to contain a disclaimer if it included soy, etc. Yet on these GF nuggets I see soybean oil but no bolded alergen info. A couple weeks ago I all ConAgra because I had stocked up on their pudding packs. The ingredients said soybean oil, but soy was not bolded in the allergen info. I was told that their processing took the allergen component out of the soybean oil and therefore soy did not need to be listed as an allergen. Wonder if the same is true for Aldi’s GF nuggets? Every once in a while it would be nice not to have to cook from scratch. Sorry for the long post but I am getting frustrated with shopping!

I am no allergen expert but maybe the rules are different for the oil because soy-allergic individuals likely would not react to the oil, similar to peanut allergy and peanut oil. I think this is because the allergen is the protein, which has been refined out of the oil.

My son has a soy “sensitivity” (the allergist tells us it isn’t a true allergy, but he has horrible reactions to soy). I heard several places, including from his allergy doctors that he could have soybean oil and soy lecithin. Unfortunately, we learned from experience that he can’t; he still has the same reactions to products with soy oil or soy lecithin that he has to straight soy.

I really feel for you, as I find it very hard to trust our food suppliers to get it right. My daughter has had food problems since she was born, and many reactions to products that seemed to be OK by reading the label. Thank goodness it’s mostly hives and rashes. I learned to double and triple the things that freeze and re-heat well. Homemade chicken nuggets are so messy to make, but, when you do, you might as well make a huge batch and freeze some. They re-heat very well in the toaster oven or oven. I also freeze noodles and rice in portions. They re-heat in the microwave in seconds and taste just like fresh made. Not sure how your freezer space is, but, it sure helped me to free myself up from a lot of cooking when I just didn’t feel like it.

Susan C. Regarding the soy allergen being taken out of the product, I’ve also heard this countless times from many many people. THIS IS NOT TRUE. What is true is that in this form, the soy PROTIEN is removed, which is what MOST people have allergies to. However, if you have a severe enough allergy, you will STILL have an allergic reaction even when the protien is removed. And as far as labeling goes, there is no Law that requires companies to put allergen information on their products, and is not regulated. The manufacturers choose to put that info on for our convenience. So just because it is not clearly indicated on the package does not mean it is allergen free.

Thank you so much for the ingredient list. My sister and daughter have celiacs so always looking for something different they can eat. Was excited when I saw rice flour since they can both still handle rice for now, unfortunately both soy and corn are problems for them. Getting closer, though!!

these were super for a quick snack for my three kids with a gluten allergy. It was a great price and the kids liked the taste. As a mom I feel the quality is good. Thank you for making these, you have simplified my life as a busy mom who always has to cook. I really hope these stay a reqular item at aldi’s . Aldi is my favorite grocery store.

Thank you for this post. I went out and purchased 3 bags for my son. He LOVED them! Unfortunately, when I went back they were gone and the lady stocking said they may not be back for a year!:( I did comment on Aldi’s FB page pleading for them to restock them permanently. I hope everybody does. Thank you again.

About Rachel

I’m a former librarian, now mashing up a new career as a freelance writer, editor, workshop leader, blogger — and mom to two boys! Mashup Mom launched in January 2009 to provide couponing, frugality, and work-at-home strategies and advice. Since I’m based in the Chicago area, you’ll find a lot of Illinois grocery store matchups here — but those of you outside of Illinois will also find so many ways to save, everywhere from national drugstore chains to Amazon.